Boat trailer with retractable wheels



Dec. 10, 1968 E, w 1- 3,414,917

BOAT TRAILER WITH RETRACTABLE WHEELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 20, 1967 INVENTOR. EDGAR W. HARRINGTON ATTOR N EYS Dec. 10, 1968 E. w. HARRINGTON 3,414,917

BOAT TRAILER WITH RETRACTABLE WHEELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 20. 1967 INVENTOR. EDGAR W. HARRtNGTON ATTO R N EYS United States Patent 3,414,917 BOAT TRAILER WITH RETRACTABLE WHEELS Edgar W. Harrington, 130 Ipswich Road, Topsfield, Mass. 01983 Filed Feb. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 617,222

4 Claims. (Cl. 9--1) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A boat is provided with a pair of vehicle wheels carried in a horizontal plane and swingable down to vertical planes for use on a road, and operating mechanism to swing the wheels from stowed position to active position, or reverse, by rocking a lever through 180. Also operated by the lever are two doors in the bottom of the boat which open to let the wheels move from one position to the other and close after the Wheels have moved to the other position.

This invention relates to mechanism by which vehicle wheels can be carried by a boat and moved to a stowed position within the contour of the hull or to an active position for use in supporting the boat when it is trailing behind a vehicle on a road. Several varieties of retractable wheels for boats have been invented and patented. It is an object of the present invention to provide compact operating mechanism which with the wheels themselves will offer a minimum obstruction to the occupants of the boat using it for ordinary purposes. When not in use, the wheels are stowed flatwise in a well within the boat which opens out through the bottom. Four hinged doors normally close the bottom of the well, these doors when closed forming a portion of the bottom of the hull itself. The two inner doors are hinged near the keel. The two outer doors are hinged near the turns of the bilge. All four doors swing downward to open. The vehicle wheels are mounted on yokes which rock about axes near the hinges of the outer doors. Operating linkage is provided which is so designed that the rocking of a single operating lever through a stroke of approximately 180 causes the inner doors to swing down to vertical positions while the wheels themselves and the outer doors swing down to positions in vertical planes. The inner doors swing up again to their normal horizontal positions in the hull contour during the final portion of the down-swing of the wheels and outer doors. This sequence of movements is reversed when the operating lever is rocked in the other direction.

For a more complete understanding of the invention reference may be had to the following description thereof and to the drawings, of which FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the stern portion of a boat as seen from below, portions of the hull being broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the same, a part being broken away;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the boat with the top and a side wall of the well broken away to show the wheels and operating mechanism 7 housed therein;

3,414,917 Patented Dec. 10, 1968 hull. A well 23 is formed above these openings by walls 24, 26 running athwartships to the sides of the hull, though end walls (not shown) for the well may be provided inboard of the sides 14, 16 if desired. A cover 30 is provided for the top of the well. This can conveniently serve as a seat and is preferably removable for access to the interior of the well.

When the boat is afloat, the bottom of the well is closed by four hinged doors 32, 34, 36, 38 which when closed are part of the hull itself. As shown, these doors are hinged to the hull respectively at 40, 42, 44, 46. The hinges 40, 46 for the end doors 32, 38 are at the turns of the bilge. The hinges 42, 44 for the intermediate doors 34, 36 are near the keel 18. The end edges of the doors 32, 38 are provided With offset lips 48, 50 which are underlapped by the ends of the doors 34, 36, respectively, when the doors are closed, as indicated in FIGURE 5, so that the outer surfaces of the doors are flush with the surrounding areas of the hull surface and the doors 34, 36 serve to keep the doors 32, 38 fully closed.

Two vehicle wheels 60, 62 are provided, these wheels being stowed in the well 23 when not in use, as indicated in FIGURES 2 and 3. To support the wheels a rigid frame 64 is mounted within the well, this frame having approximately the same length and width as the well. Journalled in the frame are three parallel shafts 66, 68, 70 which extend in a fore-and-aft direction. The shaft 66 is a control shaft and is located amidships. The rock-shafts 68, 70 are near the ends of the frame 64. The wheel 60 is mounted in a forked yoke 72 which is secured to the shaft 68. The wheel 62 is mounted in a forked yoke 74 which is secured to the shaft 70. Thus when the shafts 68, 70 are rocked through angles of the wheels are swung down from their horizontal position in the well to vertical positions below the sides of the hull. The control shaft 66 is operatively connected to the shafts 68, 70 by linkage which is so designed that a rotation of the control shaft through approximately 180 will result in rocking movements of the rock-shafts 68, 70 through angles of 90. This linkage is illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4. For this purpose one or more crank arms are fixed on the shaft 38, two such crank arms 76, 78 being shown. When the wheels are in stowed position, these crank arms extend upward and out- Ward at an angle of about 45 from the vertical. Fixed on the control shaft 66 are central crank arms 80, 82 which extend approximately horizontally from the shaft and are respectively connected to the crank arms 76, 78 at points above the axis of the shaft 68 by rods 84, 86. The lengths of the crank arms are such that rotation of the shaft 66 approximately 180 as indicated in FIGURE 4 results in rocking the shaft 68 90 so that the wheel 60 is swung down from its horizontal stowed position to its active vertical position. The wheel 62 is similarly connected to the operatig shaft 66 by central crank arms 83, 90 fixed on the shaft 70 and connected to crank arms 92, 94 on the shaft 66 at points above the axis of this shaft by rods 96, 98, respectively.

For operation of the doors 34, 36 two cranks are fixed on the shaft 66, one member serving as both cranks which are connected respectively to the doors 34, 36 by rods 102, 104, as indicated in FIGURE 5. The lengths of the crank arms on the member 100 are such as to require a sliding connection between each of the rods 102, 104 and their respective doors 34, 36. This is furnished by slotted members 106, 108 which are slidably engaged respectively by the rods 102, 104. When the control shaft 66 is rocked through its stroke of approximately in either direction, it is evident from FIGURE 5 that during the first half of such stroke, the doors 34, '36 will swing down to their open position and that during the second 3 'half of the stroke the doors will be drawn back to their closed position.

The doors 32, 38 open when the wheels are swung down and remain in the open position until the wheels are retracted to their stowed position. Hence these doors are connected to the respective wheels by any convenient means such as coiled springs 110, 112 (FIGURE 2) which are fastened at their ends to their door and pass through the fork of the corresponding yoke 72, 74.

To operate the control shaft 66 an operating lever 114 extends horizontally from an end thereof as shown in FIGURE 3. When it is swung to rotate the shaft through its stroke it is then in a horizontal position, extending in the opposite direction. Thus in either position it is down below the top of the well and out of the way.

I claimi 1. A boat hull having a transversely extending well therein, a pair of vehicle wheels normally disposed in a horizontal plane within said well, means supporting said wheels and operable to swing said wheels down through angles of approximately 90 into parallel vertical planes, said means including an operating lever nockable approximately 180 about an axis from one horizontal position to another to swing said wheels through said angles of 90, central crank arms rockable with said lever about its axis, a crank arm rockable with each said wheel support ing means about its axis of swing, and a link extending from each central crank arm to one of said wheel support crank arms at a point above its axis of swing.

2. The structure described in claim 1, said hull having sides, bilges and a keel, said well having bottom closure means comprising four doors normally substantially 'horizontal and flush with the contour of said hull, two of said doors being inner doors hinged to said hull near the keel, the other two doors being outer doors 'hinged to the hull near the turns of the bilge, all four of said doors being adapted to swing down to vertical positions to open the bottom of said well, means connecting the outer doors respectively with said wheels so as to swing down and up with said wheels, and linkage operatively connecting said inner doors to said operating lever to swing said inner doors from their horizontal position to their vertical position and back to their horizontal position whenever said operating lever is rocked in either direction through its stroke of approximately 180.

3. The structure described in claim 2, the end margins of said inner doors underlapping the end margins of the corresponding outer doors when all the doors are closed, the und'erlapped margins of the outer doors being offset upwardly so that the outer surfaces of said doors are mutually flus'h.

4. The structure described in claim 1, said central crank arms normally extending approximately horizontally from the axis of said lever, the crank arms rockabrle with said wheels being normally inclined at angles of from the horizontal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1955 Irwin 244-102 9/1958 Smith et a1. 

